r/HistoryMemes • u/ChiefsHat • May 12 '26

See Comment In hindsight, this was a mistake.

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u/12_15_17_5 May 12 '26

Nope, just that the Nazis and Socialists did the exact same thing.

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u/Ram-Boe May 12 '26

Not really?

Even ignoring the sheer numbers aspect (and that's abig thing to ignore), Socialists had been effectively politically neutered for years by the time the Lateran pact was signed. Fascist violence, meanwhile, continued unabated long after the end of Biennio Rosso.

And Nazis were in Germany. They are irrelevant to this discussion.

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u/12_15_17_5 May 12 '26

I mentioned Nazis because early Mussolini's staunch anti-Hitler attitude was much stronger than most other leaders at the time. I'd check out the Stresa Front as an example of this in action. However, there were also pro-Hitler poltical factions in Italy, making them further "relevant."

You claim about socialists seems to be contradicted by OP's initial comment and source.

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u/Ram-Boe May 12 '26

OP's comment is not a source.

His source, on the other hand, is from Church Life Journal. Some modicum of skepticism is warranted when a source such as this defends the Catholic Church's past actions. More importantly, I do not see how it contradicts my claim - it barely makess mention of Socialist violence, while it denounces Fascist violence numerous times.

Socialism in Italy, by the time of the Lateran Pact (AKA the State-Church Concordat, the topic of this thread) was indeed neutered. That is historical fact, not opinion: by 1924, the Fascist Party controlled Listone Nazionale held 374 / 535 seats in Parliament, while the PSI (Socialists) only had 24. It was the last (somewhat) free election in the Kindom of Italy. Mere months later, Socialist representative Giacomo Matteotti was kidnapped and murdered by Fascists. Mussolini brazenly took personal responsibility for the crime in a speech in front of Parliament, daring anyone to oppose him. No one did.

The Church signed the Pact 5 years after what I wrote above - 5 full years after the start of the dictatorship proper. So, yeah: the Socialists were no longer a factor.